Grise Fiord (Nov 15/04) - Global warming could be making the high Arctic landscape seem both brighter and darker during the winter months, according to an Environment Canada station operator in Resolute.

In Grise Fiord -- located just above 76 degrees latitude -- residents say they seem to be getting more daylight during each consecutive dark season.

Light from afar

"It used to be sort of pitch black, as black as could be. But now, when you look south, you can see the horizon any time of the day," says resident Marty Kuluguqtuq.

What residents may actually be seeing is light from a sunset more than 300 miles away, carried by what is known as an atmospheric inversion, said Wayne Davidson of Environment Canada.

"There has to be some very cold air on the ground and some very warm air just above," Davidson said, explaining the conditions needed to create an inversion.

Because the warm air can be more than 300 feet above the ground, residents may not even feel what could be as much as a 20 degree difference in temperature, Davidson said.

Some reports say the Arctic environment could be warming at a rate of one degree Celsius per year and this warming trend in the atmosphere is just beginning, Davidson said.

"The temperature difference between the ground and the air is going to get greater and greater and the horizon is likely to get brighter and brighter," Davidson said. More than one resident of Grise Fiord said the horizon has been visible for the past 10 years -- also around the time when Davidson said the warming of the atmosphere became more dramatic.

On the other hand, if the warm air reaches the ground, it could cause the horizon to turn pitch black.

Without the cold air beneath it, the light from the far off sunset does not travel nearly as far, Davidson said.

Scientists have been debating whether or not global warming is even happening.

Knowing the science behind atmospheric inversions, Davidson thinks the appearance of a horizon where there was none before is pretty solid proof that the concept exists.

Davidson cautions against using anecdotal evidence and theories to determine the cause of more or less light during the winter months.

Measurements of the actual amount of light and dark in the high Arctic are currently being conducted at the University of Saskatoon.